In the interview below, DJ E.L. Fudge describes his experiences with the London and San Francisco rave scenes in the 1990's.
How did you become involved with EDM?
Strangely enough at my dad's Christian School. He became a fan of a synthesizer version of some classic Christian music. I was shocked he was that progressive. He had the choir perform to it. I love that sort of sound. fast forward to high school. New Wave was coming about. There were plenty of bands like Killing Joke, stranglers , Souzie and the Banshees and other new wave or synthwave bands that I was attracted to. However, being a clumsy self-conscious guy, punk shows were easier to attend than dance events. Some 6 years after my dad's records, I meet interesting people when I moved to the Bay area. I found friends in the gay community. I was invited to some EDM clubs, But I don't think I was truly engaged until I visited friends in London. I stayed with squatter friends who caravaned to the free events. They were into the rave and techno stuff. It wasn't really my thing but taking ecstasy and dancing was pretty fun. More importantly many of them were taking classes at a local circus school. We would take their kids out to the park to juggle, pyramid build, and entertain them. I was there for some fun raves that were illegal. One was in an underground train station somewhere. I went to some events at established clubs. I don't know the clubs' names. After a while I was emboldened and jumping on stage to dance. The performer in me coming out! I don't think anything was very new by the time I was there. However, by the time I got back to San Francisco I was inspired to pursue some of the circus arts. Having those skills and knowing circus people is probably what got me more involved in EDM. I was hired to perform at raves and I started booking friends of mine to perform with me. At one point I had my own underground rave at San Francisco Ocean Beach.
What was it like to be a part of the scene in San Francisco and the UK in the '90s.?
At the beginning I feel I was kind of a tag along. It wasn't really my thing. I love my friends and we had a good time. I never had to find out about shows as my friends seem to be dialed into the scene more than me. I do remember having them call a special phone number that would then tell you a last minute address to show up to. Then either they would tell you where the event was (or in the case of Mr floppy's flop house) a school bus would arrive in front of that location, pick everyone up, and deliver them to Oakland. The full moon rave was one of those that would tell you where to go at the last minute. we would drive into the country on a lonely road. There would be emergency cones placed and we would be instructed to drive around them. Then around the corner it would open up to hundreds of dancing people. A few vehicles with gas powered generators and a big PA system! it was just a big party worshiping the full moon in the middle of nowhere. I don't remember paying for it, but I'm sure it was a voluntary contribution sort of setup.
As far as doing my own show, I had already done a couple avant garde underground style birthday parties for myself. By the time I was doing the Pisces rave I had help. She was the wife of a circus performer friend. We both contributed to making it happen at Ocean Beach. I worked at a place that rented different equipment. they had generators maybe even the speakers. I can't remember that part but somehow I ended up with a generator and speakers and I pre-djayed the evening. My crude equipment for mixing was: my cassette deck, cd player, VHS deck, affects generator, mic ,and a Radio Shack mixer. I spent weeks and weeks coming up with a tape that could be played. mostly cuz I didn't know any DJs at the time and I also wanted to socialize and be apart of the party. Recording was the best way to go. That tape is part of the collection that you have access to. Sophie (who is the other birthday party person.) and I made flyers out of 4x6 photos. At the time I've been experimenting with collages. I worked at a photo lab and was I was able to print them in full color and 4x6. Pretty expensive and high-tech for the time. Good thing I stole them.... Har!
Back then flyers would have been photocopied in black and white. I guess my previous attempt at art school paid off. It was a great evening with a huge bonfire. It got a bit awkward as we welcomed anyone to the keg and to dance, some were jerks... You roll with it.
Did people have to pay to attend shows? What kind of places were they hosted at.?
I know there was the free movement in England. I'm not sure I was really a part of that. I don't remember paying for the rave that was in an underground train tunnel in London . maybe my friends paid for me, or it was donation? I'm not sure. All the other events I went to were paid. You get your hand stamped at the door kind of thing. The Rave I made was free. My subsequent events I did that weren't rave-related but circus were always donation. Mainly it was just a pay for the keg of beer. Other places that hosted like Mr floppy's flop house in Oakland was tickets. I believe that was an old brothel. that was a lot of fun all the walls were covered in different textures,. You would take ecstasy and dance. I remember standing in line for the bathroom. You almost didn't want to go to the bathroom cuz you were petting and cuddling the fur on the wall. I also attended a warehouse party somewhere in San Francisco. They broke into the warehouse and we were able to dance until the cops came. We all shuffled out and drove away. Not sure how common that was.. If it was a punk show we would have been beaten up.
As I mentioned before there was a full moon rave that was kind of randomly out in the country somewhere. I think I went to two of them. I don't remember paying for any of it. The people I went with were straight edge so I don't remember if there was booze or drugs around for those. Probably, I just didn't get any. I do remember one occasion at Mr Floppy's flop house, I was there with my girlfriend and we are on x. and of course we were having fun touching all the handrails and the walls. I'm pretty sure everybody was dancing and making out. So were we, but I have a memory of someone tapping us on the shoulders saying we had to slow down. I don't know what we're doing. we're just kissing I think... anyway that was comical. I mean this place did have make out rooms and certain areas that played trance instead of techno. I remember seeing just bodies in the shadows... So how me and my girlfriend got tapped on the shoulder I'll never know. That's so funny I forgot about that!
Did you have any trouble with licensing or law enforcement at the time? How did that affect the culture of the shows?
The warehouse party that got broken into eventually had cops pull up. We all just left (hopefully the DJs and promoters didn't go to jail.. no idea). The underground rave in London in a train tunnel wasn't a problem. The full moon rave in the middle of nowhere? No idea how long that lasted. It seems like that sort of event would get busted at some point when locals tried to drive home and all of a sudden there's cones in the way, they drive around them, then there's a giant party spilling on the road into the fields next to them. As far as my own party I always made sure that the beer was a donation. selling alcohol needs a license. Some of my later events with my dark circus theme was in warehouses and so that was considered like a "home" and not subject to those sort of laws. I never sold drugs but my partner for the Star Kiss Pisces rave had her friend sell.
She had a connection for ecstasy and other drugs and that person was invited to the event. I didn't partake cuz it was my event and I was having to deal with the PA system and other things but my understanding is that lots of people were able to get product and had a great time.
What were the shows like? Can you describe the people, the atmosphere?
It was so joyous. So many young people all having a great time. It felt like a communion. At the same time, I felt I had imposter syndrome. At the time I had lost a lot of weight and doing circus arts. I was the most buffed and trim I had ever been. but, I still look at myself as a really fat guy. I had lots of self-esteem issues. I often didn’t think I was part of the “beautiful people”. I did lots of challenges to myself to overcome my body image including going to the nude beach almost every day. Every time I went out dancing I was self-conscious. I was sometimes not allowed in to some of the posh clubs.. When I was, half the time I would jump up on the stage and be center of all the dancers. Usually with acceptance. That was a powerful experience for me. On a Valentine's Day I went with my [lesbian] friends to a Valentine's Day party at I guess it's called the Kennel Club maybe it's called The Pound now. I'm not sure, but we had friends who were go-go dancers in the cages. It was lesbian Valentine night and there was only a few of us guys there. We had a fun time. Later in the evening the DJ announced anyone who wanted to get on stage and dance with the professional dancers could. I was the only guy who jumped up (nevertheless the only straight guy). How hysterical! I wasn't sure if I was going to get clocked in the head but everyone was accepting. By the time I hopped off the stage and went to the bar, one of the bar maids tipped her hat to me said I was amazing and bought me a drink. I'm not sure what to make of that!
Do you feel the scene was commercialized/commodified while you were a part of it? Why or why not?
For the most part I think it was all commercialized / commodified. If you look at the free movement in Europe ( I'm not sure how much of that was here in the US especially in San Francisco) there's very few places you can get away with free stuff and not get taken advantage of... and if you look at some of the documentaries about the free movement in Europe, you can see how many of those events went awry. How many of them had equipment confiscated? how many them didn't make enough money to sustain the next event? legal issues etc. it sounds like a Utopian dream that just isn't realistic. I'll let those documentaries speak for themselves. As far as my event? It went as well as all my other circus events. It was all done on a shoestring with people donating spaces, backyards, warehouse etc. I only had to pay for a PA system and sometimes that was free. The main thing was I would buy a keg of beer and ask for donations. all the performers performed for free. ( Some of them are now performing in Las Vegas or with Cirque du Soleil) At the end of the show, I hoped to have enough money to cover expenses, the beer, clean up, and have a little bit left over for next year's event. That worked out okay for a number of years. I have stories about the fire department showing up to one of my circus events because neighbors saw hints of flame from a block away. It was our fire juggling! they called the fire department. We have pictures with the fire department in their fire truck and us juggling fire around them. Not really rave-related but it does kind of give you context for the way San Francisco was in the '90s n 2000s
Do you feel the scene has become more commercial commodified now? If you do, do you feel it has added, taken away from, or changed from the scene?
When you're dealing with this much equipment and this much money it has to be commercialized to some degree. At one point I bought myself a pretty big PA system with mixers, amps, powered speakers, even fog machines and disco lighting. I was offering that out to the punk scene... virtually for free. Yet all that work was so disrespected (admittedly a lot of this is youth culture). they're having a good time at everyone else expenses. I get it. But, you get one beer poured on a speaker or water gets tossed onto your control board and you've lost thousands of dollars for an event that you're doing for 50 bucks. It's just not sustainable. I think the free movement found that out in the hard hard way. For those documentaries you can see how many of them actually had to leave their country in exile. DJs in England had to run and hide in France and start up a new. It was a very awkward time. I applaud them for trying to make an event open to everyone. A dance Utopia. Open to Travelers ( a big deal at the time), those on the dole... everyone! but in the end it had to change into something more commercial. It just had to.
To be honest I was doing that scene in San Francisco, Oakland, Amsterdam, London, Manchester all that was some 20 years ago. I'm sure they're underground shows still happening. In the backyard, in a basement somewhere. There's always underground. There's always artists pushing the edge. There's always towing the line between legal and illegal. That's the culture of youth. I miss not being a part of it, by the very nature of my age I'll never be accepted and be able to go there again. Lately I've been going to some industrial EDM shows. Bands form my youth. I see them on stage in there '60s still making amazing music and I'm surprised at how young the crowd is. Somehow they know them. As far as is a scene more commercialized? Anytime something reaches that level of success corporations have to jump in and dip their [hands] into it. Even back in the '90s or early 2000s there was the Cyber Party in San Francisco. It was set up in a deserted area of Mission Bay. It was a place where Cirque du Soleil would set up. it was just an empty, crappy spot near the water. The Cyber Party had massive circus tents, tons of different music areas. I got hired to provide some juggling and fire entertainment. I got paid very little and passed it on to my friend that was a top national performer. When we showed up the fire marshal wouldn't let him perform! So there you go, commercialism at its finest. A massive event. None of us entertainers made anything...But we Had a BLAST!
Since this is a map project are there any spots you feel should be on the map and why.
Unfortunately I could not register much on a map. I believe the rave I went to in Amsterdam on the artist Island is one I could probably point out. It was on a dock near Greenpeace and Survival Research Laboratories. Many of the South of market clubs are gone.
Do you have three to five songs suggestions that would represent the air of the EDM scene
That's pretty hard. So many different styles from like hardcore or bhangra, house, techno, hardcore, grime, some of that stuff was happening simultaneously. As for me I appreciated the more upbeat female vocal kind of stuff. It was conducive to me juggling. I would take that style of EDM with me on CD Walkman. I would go to the park on my lunch break, Get a 45 minute juggle in and then have to return to the grind of my job. Today at my age I find myself listening to more podcasts political commentary science commentary understanding of biology and other dry sort of stuff. I was an avid listener to music for most of my life. most of it heading towards punk rock, alternative, New Wave.. that sort of stuff. Now that I'm older I love seeing those bands. I spend crazy amounts of money to see punk rock and industrial music etc. But if I do get to listen to music during the day it's because I'm stressed out. I'm trying to focus on a job, I can't be distracted by some kind of podcast, and I find myself turning on music that's reminiscent to the soulful kind of EDM. At this point so much music is EDM. It's hard to think of a genre that's not! in this day and age with production value being what it is, a lot of music is blended quite a bit. I'm a big fan of Django Django, Morcheeba, Sky Edwards, Portishead, and that sort of thing. I suspect I'm showing my age. I'm open to hear all sorts of new stuff. But it is so overwhelming. Bandcamp and other services dish up a song at a time. There are so many artists and so many songs I am overwhelmed and can't filter it all out. So I just don't. If a friend finds me something new to listen to, I get excited and buy up there catalog. I have such a back catalog of what I love and what I own that often I can't be bothered. I will look threw my music and get back to you on a few songs.